“vidura : gurgles for an embrace” is Pablo Diserens’ tribute album to their beloved cat, Vidura, who passed away during the summer of 2026 at the ripe old age of 22. The album is a touching, personal collection of recordings of Vidura’s unique voice, and acts as an archival memorial of his bizarre sound world.

Pablo Diserens writes:

Dear friends, my beloved toothless feline companion, Vidura, passed away this summer, leaving a great void in my heart and my home. Across his 22 remarkable years, he became notorious for his incredibly peculiar voice, his talkative nature, and his relentless demands for attention, winning the hearts and arms of countless humans (often at the expense of our sleep and our consent). Gurgling, snoring, purring, and meowing away as if possessed, he was always interested in one thing only: the warmth of our embraces.

Vidura was a Korat, one of Thailand's oldest cat breeds, and his name was Thai for “precious gem”, reflecting his emerald eyes. Full of life, perceptiveness, quirks, and humour, he had a strong personality. He loved being carried around like a baby, drooling on our faces, sleeping under the blanket, basking in the sunlight, and first and foremost, he loved people. He wasn’t always the easiest to live with, often depriving us of our sleep in the grip of his nocturnal frenzies, but the demons he bore were offset by the abundance of affection he had to give. As time gained on him, he showed extreme resilience, morphing away from his feline nature and becoming some other type of creature. Toothless, senile, deaf, eating with his hands, and breathing raspily, he transformed into one of the most singular animals I’ve had the chance to meet. He was a deeply loving, eccentric weirdo.

I miss him terribly, yet he tenderly haunts me. I catch myself seeing him in the corner of my eye, or walking carefully in the dark so as not to step on him, or finding one of his dried little turds under some furniture. But what really remains is the tenderness of his touch, the moisture of his nuzzles, the love in his gaze, and the singularity of his voice, still echoing in my mind. Never have I heard a cat make such sounds before. Each day, his meows and gurgles composed the soundscape of our home, filling the air in pursuit of closeness. It was his way of bridging the interspecies gap between us, maintaining connection, and making his requests to be held abundantly clear. His sonic and affective distinctiveness was known to many, often becoming the subject of amazement. What made his voice and breathing so remarkable? Well, I'm not entirely sure. Perhaps a twist of fate in response to my love for amphibians? Or more likely the aftermath of a coronavirus strain that he caught back in 2004 (yes, he was a forerunner). Regardless, Vidura spoke his mind!

He now rests between the roots of a V-shaped tree in one of the oldest forests of the south of France, his voice carrying on through the earth and this album.

Thank you, Vidura, for giving us so much love, joy, and wonder. I love you.

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From the tip of his whiskers to the bottom of his heart, Vidura would like to thank: Utopie for being the love of his life; Corinne for her love and nurturing; Jean-Charles for his softness and whispers; Madelyn for their tenderness, play, and freakiness; Amedeo for his warmth and blanket wraps; Chloé and Thom for taking care of him when no one else could; Obie for teaching him about frog sex and being his last embrace.

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These recordings are licensed under Creative Commons [CC BY-SA], so please feel free to use them in your music, films, artworks, etc., and let me know if you do. It would be an absolute pleasure to know how Vidura lives on.

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credits
duration: 38:35 [ CS • limited edition of 100 ]
sounds by vidura [ korat, 2004 – 2026 ]
recorded by pablo diserens [ between 2018 – 2026 ]
text and photos by pablo diserens
design by pablo diserens
published by forms of minutiae • fom21 • 2026

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